Sweet basil and the bee: Welcome to the strata-sphere

Brunch Season. Weekend mornings are too beautiful to stay inside, and it's great to sit in the yard and admire Chico in its prime. Easter, Mothers' Day, Graduation, Fathers' Day, Bridal Showers, Birthdays, Girl Scout sleepovers, Morning-After- the-Wedding, and Hooray! It's Sunday! are all lovely excuses to host a brunch, and enjoy Spring in your backyard.

The thing about a good brunch menu is to have it appear effortless and leave plenty of time to mix recurring batches of Bloody Marys or pretty orange Mimosas. Too much scurrying around in the morning emulates a weekday and is counterproductive to the full appreciation of a glorious Sunday morning. Same goes for getting up at the crack of dawn and assembling guests before 10 am: Slow It Down. Slicing-up a bowl of fresh fruit while the coffee brews and something peaceful and non-demanding bakes in the oven is just the right tempo.

Hail the Strata! Being a bit of a night person, the strata is my go-to brunch buddy. It's hearty, forgiving, you can add or take-away almost any of the ingredients according to what's in the refrigerator, and you make it the night before and slide it into the oven to bake in the morning – no measuring or fussing when you need to be enjoying that first cup of coffee with the birds in the backyard.

You would think something so genius would have been around since the invention of ovens, but if that's the case, it was under some other name, like Egg Casserole or Breakfast Puff, because according to Wikipedia, which has an opinion on just about everything, the original Strata recipe, Basil Breakfast Strata, was in Julie Rosso and Sheila Lukins Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, published in 1984, which is almost a current event. Although Molly, who was born that year and turns 30 this October, assures me it is ancient history, certainly pre-Pinterest.

Basically a Strata is a layered casserole involving eggs, bread and cheese. It's similar to a fritatta, or quiche or a savory bread pudding but better. You can add vegetables, sausage, bacon or ham, and then a beaten egg mixture is poured over the ingredients and the whole deal is left to rest in the refrigerator overnight. Serve it warm, it doesn't have to be hot, with fruit, coffee, and a Bloody Mary and you're good to go. A good Strata has enough chutzpah to keep the group happy until dinner. If you like something sweet for brunch, there's plenty of time to re-heat a coffee cake, or bake a batch of muffins in the oven along with the Strata, which bakes for at least an hour at 350?.

Here are some recipes to get you started, but feel free to get creative and make Strata your own signature brunch invention. This is the recipe for the strata pictured – kind of a tribute to spring asparagus.

Toast or dry the bread cubes in a 250? oven while preparing the other ingredients. Blanch asparagus very briefly, until just tender. Cool and cut on the diagonal into 1" slices. Saut? onion in 1 Tablespoon olive oil until carmelized, about 15 minutes. Set aside and saut? mushrooms in 1 Tablespoon oil until soft. Remove from pan and add a pat of butter and diced ham, browning slightly. Grate the Gruyere.

In a large bowl assemble dried bread cubes, onion, mushrooms, asparagus and ham, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toss well to combine and turn out into a buttered 4-quart baking dish. Whisk the eggs and half & half together with 1 teaspoon additional salt and a little pepper, and pour egg mixture over the bread mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-16 hours, or overnight.

While oven is Preheating to 350? , unwrap the strata and let it come to room temperature. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes covered; remove foil and bake for another 40-50 minutes until top is browned and Strata is cooked through. If you poke it in the center, and it bounces back, you know it's set.

That's the basic idea. Other successful combinations include this strata from Pioneer Woman using, ubiquitous kale with sausage:

Pioneer Woman Sausage-Kale Strata

Recipe can easily be halved.

Ingredients:

12 eggs

2 ? cups half and half

salt and pepper to taste

4 Tablespoons minced fresh oregano

1 loaf crusty French or Italian bread, cut into cubes

2 pounds breakfast sausage patties, cooked and cut into cubes

1 large bunch kale, torn into pieces

olive oil for saut?ing

1 pound white mushrooms, halved

2 ? cups Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

Preparation:

Drizzle olive oil over mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then roast in a 425? oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then throw in kale. Cook for 2 minutes, or until slightly wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Layer half the bread, half the kale, half the mushrooms, and half the cheese in a large, buttered lasagna pan. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients, ending with the cheese. Slowly pour egg mixture, (eggs, half and half, salt and pepper whisked together) all over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, if possible.

To bake, remove from refrigerator 20-30 minutes before baking. Replace plastic wrap with foil and bake in a 350? oven for 30 - 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until top is golden brown and slightly crisp.

Pour an egg and cream mixture over the top, refrigerate overnight and bake the next morning. Experiment with bacon, prosciutto, crumbled and browned bulk sausage, saut?ed peppers, cheeses like Chevre, Fontina, Emmentaler, Parmesan, a touch of mustard, green onions, shallots, parsley, thyme, chives – anything that would taste good with eggs. What makes stratas so amazing is the bread-cube base which keeps the dish light, but filling and crunchy too.

Combine the lime juice, celery seed, and horseradish in a pitcher. Muddle the mixture with the end of a wooden spoon to blend and break up the celery seeds. Pour in the tomato juice, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce; season with salt and pepper. Stir everything together to combine.

Divide the vodka among 6 tall, chilled glasses filled with ice. Fill the glasses with the bloody mary mix, stick in the celery and cucumber and garnish with the cilantro. Give the bloody mary a good stir and serve.